My Dirty Little Secret
February 19, 2016
I don't know what life holds in store for me and I want to be intentional about how I live it, but I need motivation to keep me on the straight and narrow every day.
I need accountability. I need to focus outside of myself to keep going.
Accountability. I have chosen to share this journey with you and have responsibility to you. I am committed to exploring new topics and learning how to squeeze lemons into really good lemonade! Race runners, nutritionist, exercise instructors all have built in accountability. They, I assume, have figured this out to some extent already.
A year post chemo and I am feeling better and better every week. Just when I think it’s as good as it’s going to get I feel even better. I’m up past 9pm! My brain fog is slowly but surely lifting. What this means, however, is that I am doing more and more and more. I find myself being squished out since life has so many demands. Maintaining inner peace is like dieting! It’s easy to fall off track even though you feel so good when you are keeping to better habits. Unlike dieting we don’t see a number on the scale to scare us back into a healthy routine. We can easily ignore the signs that our balance is off. They are often subtle, but border on dangerous territory.
I am finding it more of a struggle now to find time to write. I need to have time to reflect, learn, practice and share in order to write a post. It has become a sign that my balance is off. If I hadn’t made myself accountable to all of you I would have put this on the back burner and it soon would have become a thing of the past. I find I have to keep re-adjusting and every day I have to recommit to myself.
Do you have a sign?
Here’s my dirty little secret. My bedroom is a mess! It’s the backstage of our busy lives. Where everything gets sorted and piled to do "later". I never was a bed maker...my dog just messes it up trying to get under the covers during the day anyway. Since my journey to finding and maintaining inner peace I find that the act of bed making slows me down and adds something pretty and calm to my morning. It makes my room seem not so off limits, so stressful. It is such a little thing. If anyone told me to make my bed to find inner peace I would have laughed. The motivation is different. I do it not as a “should” do but something that makes me content. Inner peace is being content amidst the storm after all, is it not? Here’s the thing, when my bed isn’t made or it’s thrown together haphazardly too many days in a row it is a tangible sign that things are too busy. I don’t need to wait until I start snapping at my husband and kids or until I get sick and end up missing work or canceling on a friend. For me it’s making my bed. For you it might be making dinner or having a date night or reading or whatever makes you content.
I’m sure there will be other signs along the way, but the key is to keep enough awareness on life and making sure to add accountability and noticing the signs along the way.
Need more ideas for accountability?
1) I miss reading! I now have committed to reading with my kids for their 30 minutes of assigned reading time. It keeps them on track and I enjoy it more than trying to police their homework time!
2) My husband has committed himself to making Sunday dinners. He started an Instagram page where he photographs his work. It keeps it fun and him engaged to this WONDERFUL hobby of his! Please support his efforts @dads_can_cook on Instagram. I'm REALLY encouraging this one.
I'd love to hear your ideas too!!
In Mind, Body and Health,
Tosha